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Archive for March, 2010

Before presenting our proposal of the festival, I would like to introduce and clarify a few concept/issues that we will explore and address in our performance festival.

Dislocation, Diaspora, Displacement, & Creating The New Village

Disturbance from a proper, original, or usual place or state

Be displaced: force to leave their home, typically because of war, persecution, or natural disaster

Challenges & Conditions: resettlement, surviving, surrounding by the unfamiliar, struggle to be assimilated, loss connection to the past

Colonizing migration Vs. Displaced person. In the context of Vancouver’ history, the powerful one to the new place, is not the one been displaced.

Power shift, invasion, replace, be displaced , who is the dominated, and who is the minority to resign ( struggle to retain?)

From colonialism to Globalism in a consumerist & economic driven society

“From the dawn of human civilization the dominant organizing principle for everything done that is considered of value is the production of something to be consumed, traded, or sold. The definition of what is worthy work, the merit of an individual doing such work, and the potential for an organization to focus the efforts of many to accomplish great deeds are based on producing something deemed of value as the outcome. However, the underlying theme of the Industrial Age is the displacement of people from paid work by technology. …..recent history is replete with examples of worker displacement and its negative consequences on the self-image and self-worth of the individual in modern society.

—— Excerpted from “Globalization & Displacement”

Disintegrated / Polarized Society V.S. Multi-Cultured, Integrated Society —– Is the New Village a dream, A propaganda delusion, a paradox, or A Goal to fight for?

History, Social hierarchy, who is the dominated? who is less power?

—- will you recognize the contribution of the bottom class for the country? say, the black people?

—– In the context of Vancouver, what do you think of other culture? will you bother to get to know more about it except going to the ethic restaurant regularly?

—— multi-culture, the consumable/ the tourist attraction…

From here to where… Disjoint the double identity, Assimilation, Sense of Belonging, Hope to Return, Integrity…

There is a very good biography animation PERSEPOLIS about an Iranian-French girl’s coming to the age stories. The film may not strictly finger point to the topic here, but it present vividly the bitterness and struggles of defining herself and her root, as many other immigrant have.

As we are gliding above the realistic and compelling 3D world that advanced technologies build for us, the traditional hand-draw animations have been discretely pushed away from our sight.

I once took an introductory animation class in ECU as an elective. The workload required for projects made a painful mark in my memory, regardless that they were just small just projects. Still, the course is rewarding as allows me taste a little bit the glamour of traditional animations. As i dipped my head into sheets and sheets of paper, drawing it frame by frame, there is something fascinating: lives sparkle the moments when the lines flow, shapes vary, and when I flicked the drawing…

Then I start to see that 3D animation, with however appealing looks, exciting effects and fancy camera angle, it by no means can replace the traditional animations, just like digital color photography is not able to drive the black & white film photo to extinct.

Ryan Larkin‘s short animation Walking simply stunned me when it was shown in the class. Quite strait-forward, it is about people’s motions of walking, but there are much more than just that…… ( you tell me)

The short film (made in1969) achieved great success when Ryan was still a very younger animator. He was immediately regarded a raising star, a genius in the animation industry. After he continued to make another few amazing works, life for him, however changed dramatically…

There is a documentary animation film made about Ryan. Interpretation opens for you.